It’s one step forward and two steps back for the Chicago Cubs in terms of injuries this season. Just a week ago, they had activated their starting pitcher Shota Imanaga, who was nursing a hamstring strain. And now, they’ve lost their $68 million starter, who is expected to miss more than a month of action.
The timing is far from ideal, as the Cubs have already lost Justin Steele for the rest of the season. And well, right-hander Javier Assad isn’t expected to return until next month. To top it all off, the team is currently in the middle of a three-game series against their arch rivals—the St. Louis cardinals.
Now, with a right calf strain, Jameson Taillon has landed on a 15 day injured list. As manager Craig Counsell revealed, Taillon will miss “a pretty significant amount of time,” likely a month.
Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon will miss “a pretty significant amount of time” with a strained right calf, manager Craig Counsell said. “More than a month.”
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) July 4, 2025
After Thursday’s bullpen session, Counsell said that “he [Taillon] felt a grab yesterday.” The setback stings even more because Taillon was scheduled to start against the Cardinals on Saturday.
Before he landed on the IL, the 33-year-old had given up 15 runs, including 6 home runs, across his last three outings. He’s expected to be on the sidelines till the end of July, although his exact return timeline will depend primarily on how his rehab goes.
To fill in his rotation spot, the Cubs have recalled Jordan Wicks from Triple-A Iowa. The initial call for him was to work out of the bullpen. However, he is now expected to join the rotation with Chris Flexen. He’s in the rotation to fill the gap.
Flexen happens to be a seasoned right-hander with excellent major league experience, while Wicks had a brief big league stint back in April. He pitched two innings over two games, allowed three runs and recorded a rough 13.50 ERA. In triple-A Iowa, he’s been a starter, logging 11 starts across 12 appearances.
He has another opportunity this time. “He [Wicks] has got to come up here and attack the strike zone and get himself in favorable counts … to be effective,” said Counsell. With another gap in the starting rotation, the Cubs are expected to be more focused on pitching at the trade deadline.
The Cubs’ trade deadline strategy
For the record, the Chicago Cubs have the sixth-highest active roster payroll across the league. With that, they want to achieve more than just leading the division. After all, in the last 117 years, they have only secured one World Series title.
Entering Friday, the Cubs are at the top in the NL central. For the playoffs, they clearly want to go all in. It was not just Taillon’ injury that prompted the front office to explore more starting pitchers on the trade market. Jed Hoyer already planned to do so.
Taillon is not expected to return till the end of July and with Justin Steele already out for the remainder of the season, the urgency to fix the rotation has grown louder. Meanwhile, manager Craig Counsell has been calm about it all.
“These things happen,” he said. Further, he added, “You have to, as an organization, be prepared for the next step, the next solution. That’s where we’ll be.”
For Sunday’s game against the Cardinals, Matthew Boyd is elected to line up. And luckily, after Sunday, the Cubs only have to play six more games before the All star break. They could utilize that time to take a breather and gear up for the trade deadline.
But they’re staying aggressive, that’s for sure!
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